Review of Aviya Kushner's "The Grammar of God"

"A Hebrew Speaker's Response to the Bible in English." xxxii.

It is important to note that most of the reading I do is in biblical academia, so my judgment of this book is not based on the same criterion. The reason I mention it is because I read some other reviews of this book in which they were quite unfair, attempting to judge it as a work of biblical or linguistic scholarship. That is not what this book is, nor does the author claim this (see Introduction xxxii); reading the book you will find that to not be the point.

This book was recommended to me and now I am so glad it was; what a fantastic work! I appreciated her insights and background of having been raised in a Jewish home where speaking and reading Hebrew was at the center of the family life.

Again, while it is not a scholarly work, The Grammar of God does contain many trails for the chasing, if the reader possesses the notion. This book will thrill both the grammarian and lover of the Bible, as it is written beautifully and is full of heart. She investigates the histories of English translational difficulties and tells the story of her own personal journey with the realization that "some of the most politically charged issues of our time are rooted in biblical translation." xxiii

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"It [the Bible] is a story that is part of every man and woman who has ever felt the need to claw against destiny, to insist on a different future than what God appears to be offering. And sometimes, in the Bible, what man wants so passionately is unacceptable to God. What man wants is so destructive that is is a threat to the earth, to the creatures that live on it, to other humans." 114.

Also, the book is available in multiple formats and editions, including audiobook.

Resources for Educational Purposes

I have benefited greatly in the past from the generosity of various professors and institutions of higher education, who have made resources freely available to those who may otherwise never have the opportunity.

With the rise of the internet has come a tool of incredible power to share and learn, but with it comes the danger of widely disseminating falsehood as well. There are endless circular quotations and content that is taken as legitimate but is often not the case. Fake news, propaganda, falsified information and amateurs purporting to be experts can find unsuspecting audiences, unaware of what they are consuming. As individuals, it is our responsibility to be prudent with the information we take as "truth" and "fact." This is where reputation can play a large factor; find it in a book.

One particular tool that has been useful is iTunes University. It is like podcasts or video-casts provided by Colleges, Universities and Seminaries. There is an incredible amount of classes able to be taken on your own and at no expense. Many even contain the handouts and syllabi to provide the full experience. I have utilized this resource on many occasions including (but not limited to) classes from Yale, AMBS and Fuller Theological Seminary. The disadvantage is that it is limited to Apple users, but it has been worth it to me to have an Apple device for this reason alone.

Another option is "The Great Courses." Some of the most well-known teachers from respected institutions have lectures covering any range of topics and areas of study. These can be downloaded, or (my personal favorite) found in your local library system. If you have not been a regular patron of your local library, you are missing out on an incredible resource with dedicated people possessing an extraordinary knowledge for aiding you in your quest. As Matt Damon's character Will said in Good Will Hunting,

"You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library."

  

There are other options as well, such as reputable professors making their classes available on a site like YouTube. One in particular I will note is Craig Keener. He has magnanimously made various of his lecture series available to all, such as Romans and Matthew. Dr. John Walton has similar lectures: Job.

There are lectures given in a series, such as those the Lanier Theological Library in Houston has done at regular intervals. They host various scholars giving talks on a variety of topics. Their videos are archived on Vimeo. 

For someone who may be interested in learning a foreign language, I highly recommend Simon and Schustler's Pimsleur (and Little Pim for Children). Again, these are resources that will be readily available at most local libraries. 

I Apologize in Advance

Knock, knock, knock Doctor . . . (x 3)

This morning as I was waking from sleep, I don't know why, but I had this thought:

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Yes, the Doctor. 

Doctor Who?

Precisely.

2016: The Year of Liberty and Justice for All

I don’t do election politics. I do little with prophecy and nothing with Pokémon. When Christians – through a contorted process of hermeneutical gymnastics – feel the need to combine contemporary political and world events with prophetic scriptural passages, it grinds me. I like history, as many do. But most people don’t learn anything from history, and even fewer learn from politics, amidst the screams of sanity being a rare commodity. I'm not sure where the Pokémon go. I'm also not sure what the plural is for Pokémon. 

As with most civilizations preceding us, all hit their strides, eventually began a decline (some quicker than others, and with or without outside help) and ceased as a civilization or recognizable entity. Undoubtedly, ours will someday follow a similar pattern. There will be a strong competent leader at the podium making grand speeches (or at least plagiarized ones), promises (meant to be broken) and waxing eloquent or shooting from the hip. But more than likely it will not be the election and subsequent administration of that individual alone to cause the decline and fall of the American Empire any more than one emperor of Rome was to blame.

By now, I’m sure everyone is aware that Obama was definitely the anti-christ or the messiah who was assuredly destined to usher in the age of desolation, culminating with the rapture of the saints or bring redemption and everlasting peace to this land. Yeah. Guess what, I still put my pants on the same way - most mornings. The point being, regardless which candidate is elected to this year’s puppet post, it will not be the single contributing factor to bringing our civilization to its knees or less likely, to usher in a new golden era. 

While the American public is entertained by this monstrosity of reality show (which once again highlights our pathetic outlook of reality), we are convinced once more (by some magical madness I can’t understand) that reform from Washington is even possible by any one candidate. Even if the perfect candidate did somehow make it to the Oval Office, it wouldn’t fix everyone’s problems any more than Bush’s or Obama’s administration did.

I am always encouraged with the progression of our species when I visit social media. Social media has become a central hub for the knowledgeable and savvy on any given situation or scenario. These wonders of the web serve up facts by the page-full, along with pointed YouTube links which bring otherwise productive internet discussions to an abrupt halt, refuting once and for all those who seek to overthrow their personal lack of self-confidence. If the Church, all branches of government and the academic world (including the sciences) could get their hands on these internet eggheads, perhaps we could see some real improvement in the world.

Of course my candidate is the best and the only hope for the world. Certainly my particular strand of religion and interpretation schema of the Bible is the only truth known to man. And who could doubt my view of the sciences, which are built on the right set facts and are in complete biblical harmony against the godless scientists and scholars. Why else would God favor me and my candidate?

Illusion dominates our culture. We spend a great deal of time trying to convince everyone else of many things and yet live with daunting reality that we have not convinced ourselves (or God). But we still try somehow to persuade ourselves that the illusion we are promoting is the truth, because the illusion has become much more appealing than the truth ever was. For what other reason has social media become so popular?

Note: This post is full of sarcasm.

Discount Prophecy

I have a "rapture" post which will definitely appear anytime now, but until then enjoy this beautiful little gem collected via Facebook.

What Happens When We Die

A friend of mine, Dustin Smith,  has been making some videos he calls, "10 Minute Truth Talks." Here is his most recent.

Israel Song Experience

A song of my experiences in Israel. I played and sang this at Ray Vanderlaan's seminar in Mt Hope, March 2016. Thsi is my arrangement and re-wording of Fernando Ortega's "Angel Fire."

Inquiry for Truth

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"  

In one of his classic works, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis wrote of two men engaged in a theological discussion where this statement was made:

"Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was for.
There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them. Become that child again: even now. . . . Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth. What you now call the free play of inquiry has neither more nor less to do with the ends for which intelligence was given you than masturbation has to do with marriage."1

I don't adhere to much of Lewis's theology, but his point is well made and the story well told. When love of being right eclipses a love for truth, great tragedy can occur resulting in cognitive corruption. It's not wrong to be right, but right as its own end seems wrong. Because, ultimately it's not about us. We are stewards, even of truth and intelligence.

1. C.S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, The Great Divorce (HarperOne, 2002), 487.

Denied Dependence

It continues to entertain me when I read or listen to some fundamentalist claims such as "I only trust the Bible's words" or "I don't read scholarship and commentaries, only God's word." I first saw this handy little flow chart on James McGrath's blog. He remarked,

"Does someone claim that they simply read the Bible and have no need for scholars, when they are reading the Bible in translation, or reading critical editions of the texts in the original languages, or using manuscripts copied by scribes, having learned Hebrew and Greek with the help of textbooks and lexicons? That person is a liar, plain and simple."

Perhaps you may find some interest in it.

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts, who lived in England in the 17th and 18th centuries, penned hundreds (maybe more) poems and hymns (if Wikipedia is accurate, 750 credited hymns). He was also a theologian and logician. For instance, in his classic book Logic, Watts wrote,

"The power of reasoning was given us by our Maker, for this very end, to pursue truth; and we abuse one of His richest gifts if we basely yield up to be led astray by any of the meaner powers of nature or the perishing interests of this life. Reason itself, if honestly obeyed, will lead us to receive the divine revelation of the Gospel, where it is duly proposed, and this will show us the path to life everlasting.” 

Unknown to many Christians who sing the hymns of Watts on a regular basis is that he had some theological persuasions which would be considered heretical by many, such as the denial of the Trinity. In the June, 2015 issue of Focus on the Kingdom, a columnist wrote, 

"It is evident that there is a close connection between Isaac Watts’ study of logic and his rejection of the Trinity. After devoting 20 years to intense scriptural study on the nature of God, Watts wrote: 'But how can such weak creatures ever take in so strange, so difficult and so abstruse a doctrine as this [the Trinity], in the explication and defence whereof multitudes of men, even men of learning and piety, have lost themselves in infinite subtleties of dispute and endless mazes of darkness? And can this strange and perplexing notion of three real persons going to make up one true God be so necessary and so important a part of that Christian doctrine, which, in the Old Testament and the New, is represented as so plain and so easy, even to the meanest understandings?'”

I possess a book called, "The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts," and in this book is most of his work, including poetry written from the content of many of the Psalms. One of his well-known hymns is titled, "Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun." I had not known it until reading through this book, but the hymn is from a two-part work on Psalm 72. The popular form of the hymn is from part 2 of that work, and does not contain all the original elements Watts had in it. Here in full, are parts 1 and 2 for your enjoyment. (For any interested in seeing this book, you can view and download a digital copy here).

Psalm 72, Part 1

The Kingdom of Christ

Great God, whose universal sway

The known and unknown worlds obey,

Now give the kingdom to thy Son,

Extend his power, exalt his throne.

Thy sceptre well becomes his hands,

All heav’n submits to his commands;

His justice shall avenge the poor,

And pride and rage prevail no more.

With power he vindicates the just,

And treads th’ oppressor in the dust;

His worship and his fear shall last,

Till hours, and years, and time be past.

As rain on meadows newly mown,

So shall he send his influence down;

His grace on fainting souls distils,

Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.

The heathen lands that lie beneath

The shades of overspreading death,

Revive at his first dawning light,

And deserts blossom at the sight.

The saints shall flourish in his days,

Dressed in the robes of joy and praise

Peace, like a river from his throne,

Shall flow to nations yet unknown.

Psalm 72, Part 2

Christ’s kingdom among the Gentiles.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

[Behold the islands with their kings,

And Europe her best tribute brings;

From north to south the princes meet,

To pay their homage at his feet.

There Persia, glorious to behold,

There India shines in eastern gold;

And barb’rous nations at his word

Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.]

For him shall endless prayer be made,

And praises throng to crown his head;

His name like sweet perfume shall rise

With every morning sacrifice.

People and realms of every tongue

Dwell on his love with sweetest song;

And infant voices shall proclaim

Their early blessings on his name.

Blessings abound where’er he reigns,

The pris’ner leaps to lose his chains;

The weary find eternal rest,

And all the sons of want are blest.

[Where he displays his healing power

Death and the curse are known no more;

In him the tribes of Adam boast

More blessings than their father lost.

Let every creature rise and bring

Peculiar honors to our King;

Angels descend with songs again,

And earth repeat the long Amen.]

Stand-up for the Bible - "Second Corinthians"!

In case you missed it, social media and other sources are bubbling with Christian responses to Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump regarding his recent speech at Liberty University. In his reference to Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he said "two Corinthians" rather than the more familiar (at least to American Christians) "second Corinthians."

Americans love to be opinionated and raise issues with anything apparently. Many academic theological works by scholars such as N.T. Wright use "two Corinthians" (meaning "2 Corinthians") rather than "second Corinthians" on a regular basis. So perhaps if more time was invested reading (or listening) to theological works by Europeans and less time watching presidential nominees, these great difficulties threatening the vitality of true Christianity would be resolved (that was a joke btw).

James McGrath covered it well on his blog here and here.

"how did you learn to refer to the letters as letters, and multiple letters to the same destination by ordinal rather than cardinal numbers?"

How a Nicene Bishop Stole Saturnalia

In keeping with the season and good holiday cheer, 

Here's something I've written for Saturnalia this year.

It may contain elements you never have heard,

But they were not fashioned by me, however absurd.

No need to trust me, you can click on this link, 

Then in the comments below let me know what you think.

So without further delay I offer this poem, 

Not like my usual long-winded tome.

How a Nicene Bishop Stole Saturnalia

Twas’ a time long ago, in a place known as Nice, 

Where some councilmen penned a cold, yet heated device. 

From abroad these leaders came and drafted a creed, 

Which for years from then onward the Church would mislead. 

One attendee present refused to agree, 

To this idea of God they labeled “Trinity.” 

Such an act of defiance caused a stir that was quick, 

And up with a flash jumped a saint later called Nick. 

He waved his fist, shouted and called him a name, 

Saying God’s persons were separate, yet still all the same. 

To suggest Christ was a creature did such anger incite, 

And caused the charitable Bishop to resort to a fight. 

This man from Myra himself did abase, 

By striking poor Arius right in the face. 

Why was the Alexandrian struck so hard on the cheek, 

When as a presbyter wasn’t even permitted to speak? 

It just goes to show one's view will be counted as rot, 

If it’s sang of the son, “there was a time when he was not.” 

Thus began an age of heretic hunting and barbarian acts, 

When many were slain rejecting these Trinitarian “facts.” 

Reformation again was still yet to come, 

Resulting in more unneeded martyrdom. 

This was not of the Christ, nor of his God, 

But rather a sham, a Christian façade. 

I will end this small tale which is in many ways tall: 

When your stockings are hung neatly up on your wall, 

And the soft, gentle snowflakes have started to fall, 

If you’re waiting for Santa be ready to brawl.

For he may come slinking or sneaking about, 

If he’s heard that Jesus’ homoousios you doubt. 

Don’t worry or panic, merely cover your chin, 

If you’re a Socinian or Arian Unitarian.

Question an Answer to Answer a Question

Can questioning answers lead to answers of questions? 

Some answers raise questions, some questions give answers. 

If answering questions is all that you do, 

I have a really good question for you. 

If you’ve never questioned an answer that’s always been there, 

are you fit as an answer giver, unbiased and fair? 

If a question is good and the answer is true, 

then the question has answered a riddle for you. 

If the question is good but the answer unsound, 

Make a quest for the answer until the truth has been found. 

If the question is wrong, and you may just not know, 

It's all part of life, how we learn, mature and we grow. 

So question the answers you always have heard, 

no matter how eloquent, official or absurd. 

For some of the things you probably were taught,

Turned out to be false when better answers were sought.

The one who searches out truth from the fable,

has only to question an answer and he’s able. 

For every false answer will eventually fall apart,

when the seekers of answers make their questioning start.

It doesn't take long for a whole kingdom to fall,

When good men question nothing, nothing at all.

Rejoice: Good News.

Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard,

For your watch hath not been in vain,

And the Black Gate is broken,

And your King hath passed through,

And he is victorious.

Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West,

For your King shall come again,

And he shall dwell among you

All the days of your life

And the tree that was withered shall be renewed,

And he shall plant it in the high places

And the City shall be blessed.

Sing all ye people!

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King, The Eagle's "Good News"

Apostle Paul - God in Flesh

Unbeknownst to some readers of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, while attempting to evangelize and maintain his humility hinted at his divine nature. He claimed that he was the God of Israel, Yahweh, the I AM in flesh. Take a look at these irreconcilable proofs that could be seen in no other way by his audience. There is little question that they would have readily understood his claim to God-man-ship. This is probably the underlying reason why the religious leaders tried to kill him, why they wouldn't listen and eventually why he was killed in Rome.

"But by the grace of God I AM what I AM..." 1 Cor. 15:10
"So that you also may know how I AM and what I AM..." Eph. 6:21
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I AM..." Col. 1:24 

"Accordingly, though I AM..." Philemon 8

Not only is Paul claiming to be the Ex. 3 I AM, he is also not claiming merely to be one of three "Whos" but the "What"! 

(For the sake of confusion, let it be known that this is a joke, much like many Christological interpretations. In none of these passages did Paul use ego eimi.)

Jesus Shall Reign

Here is my arrangement of Isaac Watt's "Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun"

The Last Goodbye

I love this song.

What's it all about

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them." Bill Watterson, (creator of Calvin and Hobbes).

Good Advice From Bill Watterson

This post is taken from this web posting

On his cartoon blog Zen Pencils, Gavin Aung Than turns inspirational quotes into comic strips. For his newest strip, he illustrated a quote from Bill Watterson’s 1990 speech at Kenyon College in the style of Calvin and Hobbes, which Than considers “the greatest comic strip of all time.” The comic strip below “is basically the story of my life,” Than writes, “except I’m a stay-at-home-dad to two dogs.” You can read more at Zen Pencils, where this comic originally appeared.

Words

I found a pretty neat app that creates a word cloud for about any text, including an entire blog. I ran my blog URL to see my most used words: http://www.wordle.net/create.

I am very pleased that God, Jesus and Yeshua are among the most used, but am slightly curious as to why "Pharaoh" is so high on the list. Seems a bit odd. My best guess is that it has to do with the 18 part series called, "Servitude to Royalty - The Suffering Servants" where Joseph and Pharaoh's relationship is discussed.